New bill hopes to criminalize government offices that fund illegal outposts

By ARIK BENDER05/21/2014

MK Cabel says Netanayahu government is ignoring its own directives made in 1996 against funding illegal outpost building.

MK Eitan Cabel (Labor) proposed a bill Wednesday that will impose criminal liability on government agencies that finance illegal outposts.

The bill was created with support from Adi Kol and Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid) and Amram Mitzna (Hatnua).

"Funding for outposts, which costs around NIS three billion, is the government’s biggest scam," Cabel said.

The attorney-general issued a directive in the past for government agencies to stop funding outposts, though it was not enforced. Some illegal outposts are funded by public money from government agencies and semi-governmental organizations, including the Housing Ministry and the World Zionist Organization, among others.

"It's not just that the Netanyahu government is ignoring the law and directives of the attorney-general. The government is ignoring its own decisions," Cabel said. "In 1996, when Netanyahu was prime minister, he made the decision to not create new settlements, but since then, illegal outposts have popped up everywhere.”

Cabel pointed out how in one case, NIS 15 million was spent to build an access road that serves only 30 families.

"When a law-abiding citizen in Nahariya or Dimona wants to close his balcony, the authorities make him or her run in circles just to get approval, but here the government is building whole settlements like it’s the wild west,” he said.